Dispensing device

ABSTRACT

A dispenser for sugar and the like includes a cylindrical container having a male thread near its rim and a circumferential bead below the thread. A substantially cylindrical cup having a closed bottom and a serrated flare at its top rests on the rim of the container and extends into the container to a depth in proximal alignment with the bead in such a manner that passageways are formed with the interior of the container via portions of the serrated flared top. A circular cover, removably mounted on the container in cooperating relation with the male thread, holds the cup in place. The cover has central and offcenter discharge openings therein. A measuring funnel is connected to the cover and communicates with its central opening. The funnel has a plurality of spaced notches at its lower end and rests on the bottom of the cup. A valve, for controlling the openings, includes a disk for closing the openings. The disk, rotatably secured to the cover at a point between the two openings, has an opening therein for selective registry with the first named openings. A portion of the disk projects beyond the cover for manual actuation.

Uite States Patent [191 Yasso [541 DISPENSING DEVICE [76] lnventor:George H. Yasso, 116 Russell Avenue, Fountain Hill, Pa. 18015 [22]Filed: Dec. 16, 1971 [21] Appl. N0.: 208,841

Primary Examiner-Samuel F. Coleman Assistant ExaminerJohn P. ShannonAttorney-Fred Fisher [451 Feb. 13, 1973 [5 7] ABSTRACT A dispenser forsugar and the like includes a cylindrical container having a male threadnear its rim and a circumferential bead below the thread. Asubstantially cylindrical cup having a closed bottom and a serratedflare at its top rests on the rim of the container and extends into thecontainer to a depth in proximal alignment with the head in such amanner that passageways are formed with the interior of the containervia portions of the serrated flared top. A circular cover, removablymounted on the container in cooperating relation with the male thread,holds the cup in place. The cover has central and off-center dischargeopenings therein. A measuring funnel is connected to the cover andcommunicates with its central opening. The funnel has a plurality ofspaced notches at its lower end and rests on the bottom of the cup. Avalve, for controlling the openings, includes a disk for closing theopenings. The disk, rotatably secured to the cover at a point betweenthe two openings, has an opening therein for selective registry with thefirst named openings. A portion of the disk projects beyond the coverfor manual actuation.

8 Claims, 6 Drawing Figures IIIIIIIIIIIII DISPENSING DEVICE BACKGROUNDOF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention This invention relates todispensing devices. Ac-

cordingly, the general objects of this invention are to I No. 1,050,192Wood No. 1,084,530 Bettman No. 1,123,974 Antoine No. 1,233,812 Sawyer etal. 1,297,244 Rauen No. 1,642,678 Horvath No. 1,707,967 Abbott No.1,727,799 Abbott 1,763,449 Trautvetter No. 1,877,808 Cagliostro No.2,269,876 Jensen No. 3,023,937 Matter No. 3,128,919 Baxter Yasso U.S.Pat. No. 1,919,582 discloses a funnel attached to a cover, wherein thefunnel terminates above the bottom ofa container.

The measuring funnel of Yasso U.S. Pat. No. 2,704,623 extends to thebottom of the container.

Sawyer et al. U.S. Pat. No. 1,233,812, Rauen U.S. Pat. No. 1,297,244,and Horvath U.S. Pat. No. 1,642,678 disclose funnel shaped devices nearthe top and a cup device therebelow.

The remaining patents disclose funnel devices attached to the cover.

Many of the prior patents disclose covers with funnels which extenddeeply into the container. When the container is initially filled withmaterial, it is difficult to secure the cover because the funnel must beforced down into the material. Other patented devices utilizing funnelswhich do not deeply extend into the'container are not too effective forits intended purpose.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It is an object of this invention to provide anovel dispensing device in which the dispensing operation may beeffective in several different ways, such as for example, by sifting, bypouring a predetermined quanti' ty, or by pouring any desired quantityof material.

Another object of this invention is to provide a novel dispensing unitfor a container, in which a selective dispensing operation may beperformed, wherein the dispensing unit extends into the container asufficiently small distance so as to facilitate its engagement with thecontainer when the container is filled with material.

With these and other objects in mind, a dispensing device for acylindrical container in accordance with the invention includes asubstantially cylindrical cup having a closed bottom and a serratedflared top. The outer diameter of the serrated flare and the innerdiameter of the serrations are such that the flared top rests on the'rim of the container forming passageways to the-interior thereof viaportions of the serrated flared top. A circular cover, removably mountedon the container in cooperating relation therewith, holds the cup inplace. The cover has central and off-center discharge openings therein.A measuring funnel, coupled to the cover, communicates with its centralopening. The funnel has a plurality of spaced inlet notches at its lowerend which rests on the bottom of the cup. A valve controls the openings.The valve includes a disk which closes the openings, which disk isrotatably secured to the cover at a point between the two openings. Thedisk has an opening therein for selective registry with the first namedopenings.

In accordance with specific features of the invention, a portion of thedisk projects beyond the cover for manual actuation. As per anotherfeature of the invention, the dispensing device includes the cylindricalcontainer in cooperating relationship with cup, cover, funnel, andvalve.

In specific features of the invention, wherein the rim of the containerhas an inner diameter di and an outer diameter do, the serrated flarehas an outer diameter f0, and the serrations have an inner diameter ft,the relationships do a fo di and di fi are valid. Another feature of theinvention includes a measuring device wherein the cup extends into thecontainer a distance less than one-fifth the height of the container.

In accordance with a specific embodiment of this invention, the coverhas an internal female screw thread, and the container has an outer malethread near the rim for engagement with the thread of the cover. Thecontainer has a circumferential bead formed on its outer surface belowthe thread so as to appear to form a limit for the cover immediatelytherebelow. The cup extends into the container to a depth in proximalalignment with the bead.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS Other objects, advantages and aspectsof the invention will become apparent by reference to the followingdetailed specification and drawings of a specific embodiment thereof,wherein:

FIG. 1 is a side elevational view of the invention with portions brokenaway;

FIG. 2 is an exploded view thereof;

FIG. 3 is a top plan view (reduced in size) of the invention in positionfor dispensing a measured amount of material;

FIG. 4 is a top plan view (reduced in size) of the invention in positionfor pouring any desired amount of material;

FIG. 5 is a top plan view (reduced in size) of the invention in positionfor shifting the material therefrom; and

FIG. 6 is a top plan view of the cup taken along the linc-66 of FIG. 2.

DESCRIPTION OF A PREFERRED EMBODIMENT Referring to the drawings,especially FIGS. 1 and 2, there is shown a cylindrical container 10having a rim 11 at the open end thereof. The cylindrical container 10near the rim 11 is furnished with an external male thread 13 in theusual fashion. Below the male thread, circumferentially disposed aboutthe external surface of the container 10, is a bead 14. The container 10is preferably transparent and can be formed of suitable material such asglass or plastic.

The invention is directed to a dispensing device which, in one form,includes the overall combination depicted in the drawings including thecontainer 10, and, in another form, can include the various componentsexcluding the container 10. The dispensing device is depicted generallyby the reference numeral 16 to include the overall device including,inter alia, the container 10.

Referring to FIGS. 2 and 6 especially, there is depicted a cylindricalcup 17. The cup 17 is closed at its bottom 18. The cup has a serratedflare 19 at the top thereof. The outer diameter of the serrated flarehas a dimension f as depicted in FIG. 6. The inner diameter of theserations has a dimensionfi as shown in FIG. 6. Referring to FIGS. 1 and2, the cup 17 rests on the rim 11 of the container 10, thereby formingpassageways to the interior of the container 10 via portions of theserrated flared top 19.

The dimensions of the container 10 are such that the outside diameter ofthe rim 11 has a dimension do, while the inside diameter of the rim 11has a dimension di.

The cup 17 has dimensions with respect to the rim 11 such that the outerdimension of the serrated cup f0 is equal to or less than the outerdimension do of the rim 11. The dimension f0, however, is greater thanthe inner dimension (ii of the rim 11. The serrations are such that theinner dimension ft is less than the inner dimension di of the rim 11 soas to provide for the passageways.

A screw threaded circular cover 21 is provided having an internal femalethread 22 adapted to engage with the male thread 13 of the container 10.The circular cover 21 is removably mounted on the container 10 incooperating relationship so as to hold the cup 17 in place therewithin.The cup 17 can be frictionally held by the cover 21 against the wall 20thereof. The cover 21 has a central discharge opening 23 and anoff-central discharge opening 24 therein.

A measuring funnel 26 is connected to the cover 21 and communicates withthe central opening 23 therein. The funnel 26 has a plurality of spacedinlet notches 27-27. Upon engagement with the cup and container, thebottom of the funnel 26 touches the bottom 18 of the cup 17, as shown inFIG. 1.

A valve controls the openings 23 and 24. The valve includes a disk 31for closing the openings and is rotatably secured to the cover 21 at apoint 32 between the two openings 23 and 24 so as to provide forselective registry with the openings.

The cover 21, in addition to being provided with the discharge opening23 in register with the measuring funnel 26, and the circular pouringopening 24, is further provided with a group of sifter openings orapertures 33. The pouring opening 24 as well as the sifter apertures 33communicates with the interior of the container 10 in a fashion that isexterior to the funnel 26 but interior to the measuring cup 17. Thus,the sifter openings 33 and the opening 24 communicate with the largeinterior portion of the container 10 via the serration l9 passageways ofthe cup 17.

The combined valve or dispensing selector and closure disk 31, which ispivoted at 32 to the top surface of the cover 21, has an edge portionthereof which projects outwardly beyond the marginal edge of the cover21 so that the disk may be easily rotated.

The pivot 32 on the disk 31 is located eccentrically on the cover 21 andis equidistant from the center of the group of apertures 33 and therespective centers of the openings 23, 24, so that, by rotating the disk31, a discharge opening 34 formed in the disk 31 may be brought inregister selectively with the openings 23, 24 or group of apertures 33,as best shown in FIGS. 3,4, and 5.

The bottom of the measuring cup, when the entire unit is assembled asdepicted in FIG. 1, is in proximal alignment with the bead 14 of thecontainer 10 as shown in the drawing.

When in use, the container 10 is filled with sugar or some othermaterial up toward the bead 14. When assembled, as depicted in FIG. 1,the device 16 may be immediately used for sifting material via theapertures 33 or for pouring the desired quantity via the aperture 24.The material will pass from the interior portion of the container 10through the serrated passageways at 19 and through the respectiveapertures 24,33.

After one such use, or, alternatively, when the disk 31 is closed andthe container 10 is inverted, the material, upon the inversion of thedispensing device 16 and the uprighting of the container 16, themeasuring cup 17 becomes filled. This action takes place because, uponinverting, a quantity of sugar, for example, passes through thepassageways at 19 and fills a volume which exists between the serratedtop 19 of the cup 17 and the top of the cover 21. Upon uprighting of thecontainer 10, the material previously in the volume between the top ofthe flared cup and the top of the cover 21 will settle into themeasuring cup 17 and reside there.

When itis desired to pour a predetermined quantity of the material forexample, one teaspoonful, the disk 31 is rotated so that the aperturethereof at 34 is in registry with the opening 23 of the cover 21. Thematerial held in the cup 17, entrapped by the funnel 26, passes throughthe spaced inlet notches 27 of the measuring funnel 26 and is dischargedout through the aperture 23 of the cover and the opening 34 of the disk.Thus, with the disk 31 located so that the discharge opening 34 is inregister with the outlet opening 23, the device may be inverted and themeasured amount of sugar poured outwardly from the cup 17 through thefunnel 26. However, when it is desired to pour an unlimited quantity ofsugar from the container, the disk 31 is rotated so that the dischargeopening 34 registers with the pouring opening 24 as shown in FIG. 4.Alternatively, by rotating the disk 31 so that the discharge opening 34is in register with the group of apertures 33, the sugar may be siftedout of the container, as shown in FIG. 5.

When the disk is rotated so that the discharge opening 34 is disposed ata point diametrically opposed to the sifter openings 33 with respect tothe pivot 32, the disk covers the openings 23, 24 and 33 and the deviceis closed. When the container 10 is to be refilled, the cover 21 issimply removed therefrom, the cup 17 is removed, and sugar is added tothe container up to the bead 14.

Thus, an empty container 10 can be filled to the bead 14, the cup 17 canbe frictionally held within the cover 21 against the interior wall 20thereof, and the cover 21 screwed ontop 'of the container so as to forman integral dispensing device 16.

In accordance with one embodiment of the invention, by way of exampleonly, the container may be constructed of glass or plastic and have aninner diameter of 2 5/16 inches and a total height of 4 /s inches. Thecontainer 10 has usable interior height up to the bead 14 of 3%-inches.Thus, the container 10 can easily hold 14 cubic inches of material. Themeasuring cup can have a depth of three-fourths inch and an outerserrated flare d top of 2 /2 inches with the inner serrations of 2 Msinches.

Various modifications may be performed without departing from the spiritand scope of this invention. For example, alternatives contemplatedwithin the scope of the invention include fastening means of the coverwith respect to the container 10 other than that of the screw threads.

I claim:

l. A dispensing device for a cylindrical container having a rim,comprising a substantially cylindrical cup having a closed bottom andhaving a serrated flare at the top thereof, the outer diameter of theserrated flare and the inner diameter of the serrations being such thatthe flared top can rest on the rim of said container while formingpassageways to the interior of said container via at least portions ofthe serrated flared top;

a circular cover removably mounted on said container in co-operatingrelation so as to hold said cup in place therewith, said cover havingcentral and off-center discharge openings therein;

a measuring funnel connected to the cover and communicating with thecentral opening therein, said funnel having a plurality of spaced inletnotches at its lower end thereof and adapted to rest on the bottom ofsaid cup; and

a valve for controlling the openings, said valve ineluding a diskclosing the openings and rotatably secured to the cover at a pointtherebetween, said disk having an opening therein for selective registrywith the first named openings.

2. The device as recited in claim 1 wherein a portion of said diskprojects beyond said cover for manual actuation.

3. The device as recited in claim 1 further comprising the cylindricalcontainer in co-operating relationship therewith.

4. The device as recited in claim 3 wherein said rim has an innerdiameter di and an outer diameter do, said serrated flare having anouter diameter f0, and said serrations having an inner diameter fi, andwherein do 2 f0 di and di fi.

5. The device as claimed in claim 4 wherein a portion of said diskprojects beyond said cover for manual actuation.

6. The device as claimed in claim 3 wherein said cup extends into saidcontainer a distance less than onefifth the height of said container.

7. The device as claimed in claim 3 wherein said cover has an internalfemale screw thread therein and said container has an outer male threadnear said rim for engagement with said female thread of said cover, saidcontainer having a circumferential bead formed on the outer surfacethereof below said male thread, so that said bead appears to form alimit for said cover, immediately below said cover, and wherein said cupextends into said container to a depth in proximal alignment with saidbead.

8. The device as claimed in claim 7 wherein a portion of said diskprojects beyond said cover for manual actuation.

1. A dispensing device for a cylindrical container having a rim,comprising a substantially cylindrical cup having a closed bottom andhaving a serrated flare at the top thereof, the outer diameter of theserrated flare and the inner diameter of the serrations being such thatthe flared top can rest on the rim of said container while formingpassageways to the interior of said container via at least portions ofthe serrated flared top; a circular cover removably mounted on saidcontainer in co-operating relation so as to hold said cup in placetherewith, said cover having central and off-center discharge openingstherein; a measuring funnel connected to the cover and communicatingwith the central opening therein, said funnel having a plurality ofspaced inlet notches at its lower end thereof and adapted to rest on thebottom of said cup; and a valve for controlling the openings, said valveincluding a disk closing the openings and rotatably secured to the coverat a point therebetween, said disk having an opening therein forselective registry with the first named openings.
 1. A dispensing devicefor a cylindrical container having a rim, comprising a substantiallycylindrical cup having a closed bottom and having a serrated flare atthe top thereof, the outer diameter of the serrated flare and the innerdiameter of the serrations being such that the flared top can rest onthe rim of said container while forming passageways to the interior ofsaid container via at least portions of the serrated flared top; acircular cover removably mounted on said container in cooperatingrelation so as to hold said cup in place therewith, said cover havingcentral and off-center discharge openings therein; a measuring funnelconnected to the cover and communicating with the central openingtherein, said funnel having a plurality of spaced inlet notches at itslower end thereof and adapted to rest on the bottom of said cup; and avalve for controlling the openings, said valve including a disk closingthe openings and rotatably secured to the cover at a point therebetween,said disk having an opening therein for selective registry with thefirst named openings.
 2. The device as recited in claim 1 wherein aportion of said disk projects beyond said cover for manual actuation. 3.The device as recited in claim 1 further comprising the cylindricalcontainer in co-operating relationship therewith.
 4. The device asrecited in claim 3 wherein said rim has an inner diameter di and anouter diameter do, said serrated flare having an outer diameter fo, andsaid serrations having an inner diameter fi, and wherein do > or = fo>di and di > fi.
 5. The device as claimed in claim 4 wherein a portion ofsaid disk projects beyond said cover for manual actuation.
 6. The deviceas claimed in claim 3 wherein said cup extends into said container adistance less than one-fifth the height of said container.
 7. The deviceas claimed in claim 3 wherein said cover has an internal female screwthread therein and said container has an outer male thread near said rimfor engagement with said female thread of said cover, said containerhaving a circumferential bead formed on the outer surface thereof belowsaid male thread, so that said bead appears to form a limit for saidcover, immediately below said cover, and wherein said cup extends intosaid container to a depth in proximal alignment with said bead.